Originally posted to a discussion group for desigining a video game
Hierarchy: The drive to control and to create hierachies of superior and inferior, master and slave. This is tied to our relationship to nature, children, animals, other countries, those weaker or stronger than us and the state, plus it affects our everyway ways of thinking and determines how we put our abilities into practice. Noel Sturgeon wrote a fine book on this. Can alternatives to subjugation thrive in the face of subjugation's power?
Consequences/Consequentialism: Causes ripple out effects. The most obvious consequences, those on which actions are typically judged good or bad, are close to the cause in time, space, physical and social connections, but they comprise only a small part of the whole. A person is defined by its actions; an action by its consequences. Thus, a person is defined by the consequences it creates, intentional or unintentional. At home, people might think you're a good person becouse of what you've done for them, but in the distance, in the future, people might think you're a right bastard because of what you've unknowingly done to them. Is this right? How do you decide if it's right? How can humans function justly in a world that stretches beyond our comprehension? (When) Should we shut ouselves off from action because we don't understand?
Identity: We change from day to day. Can I really say that I'm the same person as I was yesterday? Ten years ago? Does the past even exist? Time robs us of our old identity; living sculpts us new ones. How do I define myself today? In contrast to other things? I am a mammal (and not a reptile or bird), a human (and not a dog or ape, aren't humans better than dogs and apes), a man (and not a woman or boy, this used to make you the better of the alternatives, now it's no longer said to be the case), a student (oh, wait, no, I've graduated) a nice guy (I think, I mean look at all the unethical products I've bought, kids working in sweatshops and cows in factory farms have every reason to hae me - if I stop today, am I now a better person, or will that take time, or, since my actions cannot be undone, can my virtue never be redeemed). Do I define myself by drawing boundaries, or finding links? As as Canadian, I live in a country with borders, but as a language hobbyist, I have links to other countries. Are we who we're told? Are we people becouse we shut others out? If I looked different, spoke different, acted different, if people reacted to me in other ways, would I be another person, or myself, posing as someone else? This is an important question, because I look, speak and act differently than I used to.